Adorable

Jinbei Boy

My Little Swimmer

A Very Happy Boy

Precious

About Me

I'm just your basic, all-American girl from Denver, Colorado, except for now, I live half way around the world in Japan.: ) I met my husband in university in Denver. College sweethearts. We have been happily married since 1997. And have been together for way longer, about 16 years total. He's originally from Osaka, Japan. We lived for a couple of years in Honolulu Hawaii, where our beautiful first born son, Branden was born. We were sent there by the company my husband works for. He works for an airline by the way. After living in Honolulu, my husband's employer, wanted us to move to Japan. We live in Chiba, Japan. Where we just built our dream home, an import "all American" house! Which means a big GE oven, big GE dishwasher and yes, central heating and central air conditioning, yay! We also have a beautiful second son, named Noah. Since my husband works for an airline like I said, we travel a lot and I really do appreciate the flight benefits. Other then that, I just love spending time with my family and friends and enjoy back yard BBQ's.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US and still celebrating it right now!!! : ) Thanksgiving was yesterday for us in Japan and it's now Friday in Japan and it's raining like crazy this morning where we live in Chiba. We finished our Thanksgiving meal by 5:30 pm. Branden did go to elementary school on Thanksgiving day, just like regular and at 2:50 pm when class was over, we picked him up, drove home and all of us, got our sweatpants on. Yup, we have a very casual way of dress around here for Thanksgiving, ha ha ha. And did the last finishing touches and then we sat down and enjoyed. Just a simple as usual non fussy or fancy Thanksgiving. This picture was clicked as they just just sat down. As you can see food hasn't even been served yet. : ) Noah was talking a mile a minute and Noboru was facing him and listening. Branden was probably thinking about...mashed potatoes! He loves those best! ; )

A view from our simple Thanksgiving on this side. We have warmed, and buttered dinner rolls, a nice fresh crispy salad, whole cranberry sauce, black olives for sticking on each finger, *smiles* and a few roasted sweet potatoes (Noah's favorite). : )

And on the other side is....

A homemade pumpkin pie, the crust I did the one from scratch using that butter crust recipe, I've shared before when I made that apple pie, same crust was used for the pumpkin pie. : ) Fresh green beans that were steamed and lightly buttered and salt and peppered, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and the perfectly golden brown turkey and boy was it juicy. I used a lot of that lovely Hokkaido butter to baste it in. : )

Noboru carving the turkey! : ) Noah was looking on and so was B.

And here is a pic of everyone eating. The kids had 2 servings each. Branden wanted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and rolls, when the pic was snapped he just finished his first serving. And then had 2 extra servings of mashed potatoes before he got to his pie. Noah, had 1 dinner roll, 2 slices of turkey, some cranberries and some mashed potatoes with gravy before getting to his pie. Noboru had a big salad. Oh yeah Branden also had salad. And Noboru had about 2-3 servings of everything. Ha ha ha. We had Christmas music lightly playing in the background. And we just were really relaxed in our sweatpants, talked, laughed and ate ourselves silly. : )

This was my serving. I actually had a little bit of everything. : ) Roasted turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes and gravy, a buttery roll, black olives that I did put on my own finger tips, ha ha ha. And some green beans and a salad. I was stuffed out of my brain, I didn't get any seconds. From here I just had myself a nice cup of coffee and some pumpkin pie with whipped cream. As usual in most families in America, we went around the table and asked everyone, "what are you thankful for this year?" We started with Branden and I was last, so we went in a circle. Branden said he was thankful for his friends and also his DS lite game. LOL, okay good answer for a first grader. Ha ha ha. Next was Noah, he said he was thankful for, "going to swim school just like Branden" Okay, he wants to do stuff his older brother does, I thought. Good answer for a 3 year old. I said, okay, that's wonderful baby. Noboru's turn and he said he is thankful for being alive. Ha ha ha. Good answer, I suppose. : ) And me? Well, I'll share but please don't laugh. I chose 1 thing to be thankful for, for each person at the table. The ever democratic mommy, I have to be. Ha ha ha. : ) I said "this year, I am so happy and thankful that Branden entered his first year of elementary school and although I was worried about it last year, he has done so well with that and for that I am so thankful." Next, I faced Noah and I said...."and I am also thankful that Noah was potty trained back in May or June this year and I am also thankful that Noah has started swimming school and it is something he really loves" And next was for hubby, "and I am thankful you haven't had a cigarette in 4 weeks and I hope you can keep it up, I know how hard it's been on you". And for me, I said, "I am thankful for all of you and the rest of my family back in Denver and for my mom in California, and I am thankful I am full of good health and have good friends who love and care about me, in my life". It was fun, and it was happy and no it wasn't like a Hallmark card moment either. : ) Because for our family, there's always a lot of commentary and stuff from the peanut gallery going on at our house. When B said what he was thankful for, for example. Noboru said with a smile, "your DS game???" LOL. And when Noah said his swimming school. Branden said and "do you have a girlfriend yet?" And Noah said, NO WAY!!!. : ) So yeah we all ribbed each other, laughed, chuckled a bit. More peanut gallery comments here and there and yeah it was honestly awesome! Thanksgiving was exactly like I hoped and knew it would be, just a relaxed, time with my family, enjoying our special little meal and just sorta hanging out and enjoying time with one another.

See these extra mashed potatoes in the bigger dish? We had actually more food then we had pictured on our table. We had double the mashed potatoes, double the stuffing that was shown, and double the amount of salad. Double everything of the side dishes that was on the table basically. We will be eating turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberries, salad and rolls and more, for days. Probably all weekend actually. Not even counting the sandwiches and Ruffles potato chips. We will probably be sick to death of it all come towards Sunday : (, ha ha ha. : D But oh well, we will give it the old college try that's for sure! This evening, Friday evening for us in Japan, we will indeed be turning on the Christmas lights on our house, they are set, and oh so ready to go. So exciting! And I will probably get the tree out this weekend and do that, as well. Anyway, I just wanted to say, Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I really do! Friends, family, all of you, just everyone.....Happy Holidays!!! : )

PS, Noboru is off today and tomorrow, so my computer time has been pretty limited, since we are doing family stuff in the house or doing stuff together. So that's why I haven't been on so much, sorry. But please have a wonderful weekend you guys! : )

PSS, would you believe we have to go to school on Saturday/tomorrow? It's from like 8am to 11am. And we will be making bead work or something with Branden and his class and the other parents, ha ha ha. Should be fun actually. : ) And on Sunday, all the kids are getting together from the elementary to play at the big gymnasium, it's called, "the kids club" and they all get together once every couple month's to have a few hours of play. So, I will be taking both boys to have at it there and get there play on, so to speak, ha ha ha and that's on this Sunday, ha ha ha! : ) And this coming Monday is no school, yay! (I will be sleeping in that day, *winks*! Anyway, please have a lovely weekend everyone!!!! : )

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

So how is everyone? As for us, we are doing pretty good. There is so much to talk about and catch up about, but the hard part lately is finding the time to actually get online for an amount of time, that allows me to actually get it all down, ha ha ha. : D Anyway I have a bit of time now, so no time like the present, right? : ) This is a picture of Noah that I clicked last Wednesday while we were at the swimming school. Branden was down in the water. His swimming is getting so good lately.: )

It's hard to take a pic of B these days because of how dark is gets now that fall is under way and it gets so pitch black outside, as you can see in the background of this pic. When I take a pic it comes out blurry and yet if I use my flash, all I get is a reflection of a light on the glass. So, taking pics of B this winter will definitely be the challenge for me, especially since he swims so late in the C course. : ) But he is doing very well lately.

I made a mistake last Wednesday, I had been wanting to head to my favorite Japanese bakery that is right near our swimming school. I had about 30 minutes of time before B had to even be in the pool, I contemplated running to the bakery before swim school. I didn't. I went after swim class and that was a mistake. : ( Oh well, nobody is perfect. : ) By the time I got to the bakery passed 6pm, they were sold out of nearly everything. I think they had curry pans and the cream horns. So, I got the custard horns. Don't get me wrong they are great, it's just I had my heart set on a variety of stuff and ehhhhh. They didn't have so much. Oh well. : ) Silver lining was, I got swim school out of the way. Dinner was made already by me beforehand. And at least we got something from the bakery. : ) So better then nothing. Yup, the silver lining! : )

We have been getting the Christmas lights unwrapped, straightened which is why they were on the backyard before being hung up on the front of the house. : ) We are 90% done. Still have a few more things to do, to get finished. But as usual and is custom for my family. We always have our first light up of the house on Black Friday, which is the first day after American Thanksgiving. So, this Friday will be the first evening we start to light up the Christmas lights.

You know how much I love the holidays, so I can barely wait! Nerd that I am! : )

Here was Branden on our way to school on Thursday morning. I give him a ride everyday. But I make sure he's still bundled up. : ) He was wearing a turtle neck and a sweatshirt underneath his yellow coat. And a silly and cute, but fleecey and warm hat! No gloves, remember he lost his? I did buy him some, so he's okay now. : )

I went to a totally different grocery store last Thursday, then my usual one. I went there because at the Apita mall, they also have a small mom and pop type meat market in that complex and they always have great beef for fab prices. So that is why. This Apita store itself did not have my plain jasmine tea with no sugar, hmmm.

So, no worries I got a few bottles of straight tea instead. And water. The kids drink lots of water. Some generic 10% orange drink, a total dead ringer for the Hi C orange drink at MC Donald's in America. A bit less sweet then Qoo but sorta like that. And generic cider. Yes, saving even 20 yen, is something I like to do, so....I do buy generic when I can. : )

With the thought of eating turkey next week. And probably towards the end getting so sick of it. I decided for the week before leading up to turkey day, we better just try to eat beef, pork and shrimp. Just try to steer clear of chicken basically. And then...they had chicken on sale. So cheap, and though I didn't need it, but I bought 3 packages of it anyway and just stuck it in the freezer for emergencies. LOL.

I know a lot of you from the US are curious about the prices of meats in Japan. You can enlarge this pic if you want and see the prices. Keep in mind if you lived in the heart of a bigger city, maybe and shop at a bigger store the prices might be higher, but I live in the countryside. So prices are not so bad. Just add the decimal. So if you see a price for 500 yen for example, it's about $5.00 bucks. Give or take of the exchange rate. But it's a good round about, of the prices at least. : )

Branden had been needing gloves since he lost his. And I was thinking Nishimatsuya. But since I was at the Apita anyway, I just went up stairs to the Daiso/100 yen shop and bought B, 2 pairs. Gloves don't seem to last long anyways and this way if something happens to them, then we'd only be out a dollar. So, I felt happy and smart to do it this way. The navy blue pair with the dots for a better grip are for when B rides his bike, that way he won't lose his grip and can ride his bike. So that was a good idea. And the orange Mickey ones are just for school or playing in the backyard or whatever. : )

Thursday at the swimming school with Noah. He swims in the day, so taking pics of Noah is easy. He's getting so socialized and loves playing with the kids his own age! He's made so many friends!

This really is so good for him and also, I don't think he is going to be so panicky when he starts school in January because he has been just fine by leaving my side and going down in the water with the coach and he's handled that like a champ. So, I sorta think things will be okay. Knocks on wood. : )

You can see Noah's white swim cap, and he's face down in the water. He can hold his breath without pinching his nose. ha ha ha. He's so funny. : )

Going to the bakery, take two!!! Ha ha ha. Thursday, after Noah's early afternoon swim class, I went to the bakery and they had everything in stock still. Yumm! I got, a fresh mini loaf of French bread for part of our dinner. And 4 melon pans, and 1 apple pie slice. And those 3 delicious cheese danish down below. A mini cheese danish with kiwi on top (Noboru had this one), a mini cheese danish with cherries on top (I had this one with Noah) and that gorgeous chocolate danish with bits of almond pocky on top with slices of almonds, Branden had that one. And everyone had a melon pan. And apple pie I had Friday morning with my hot coffee. : ) This is why I try to come to this bakery once a week, to get a few yummy things like this. Except this week, I had to go twice because the first time was sorta ehhhh. Ha ha ha. : ) This bakery is the one splurge I allow for us. And I feel sorta okay with that. : ) Because I do love this bakery. : )

Hot fresh and out of the oven. Many baked potatoes. For our Thursday nights dinner.

Lean steaks for the boys and I and a more marbled steak in the back for the hubby. : )

Plating up the meals for the kids. And I purposely leave the dessert spread out like that, so after the boys eat, they can pick their own dessert and if they don't finish their supper, no dessert. Aww, yes I am a meanie. : ) But I know how much each kid eats so I didn't over feed either of them. For Noah, a half of steak cut up in little bite sizes, one baked potato and a bit of rice and only 1 broccoli. He hates broccoli but he eats it, to get his dessert, ha ha ha. Branden is bigger and older, so he got, 1 and a half steaks, cut up and diced, 2 baked potatoes because he doesn't want any rice, same as me. And he loves broccoli so he got a scoop. Both boys finished their dinners. Dunked their steaks in A-1. Had a few slices of bread and then they had a dessert, Noah only ate half of the cherry cheese danish so I ate the other half. : ) Full tummy for both boys. Then a shower and jammies and a little free time before bed. : )

Noboru likes his steak medium, and no those aren't his chopsticks, lol. I cook with disposable when I fry Noboru's steak.

Thursday nights supper. This was mine, the bread was for everybody though, and sliced and buttered. Kids had a few slices on their plates that they ran off with. : ) Just a steak, well done for me. 2 cheese buttery baked potatoes and broccoli and fresh bakery bread with butter. Very simple.

A package came on Friday, marked just as you see. From, Grandpa. To, Branden and Noah (last name) and of course every one's addresses. They sure are well thought of. Thanks dad! : )

Journey to the Center of the Earth. My dad always loved this book and the older movie on this. And so that's why he got the boys this newer version. And he said the 3-D glasses were something the boys would get a kick out of.

Last Friday, boy was I glad it was Friday!!! Ha ha ha. Branden had a field trip, and they went picking sweet potatoes. This wasn't a full blown field trip, where we had to pack them lunches or us parents got to go. This was more like a country side type thing, they walked to a farm near the school where they had been invited to pick sweet potatoes. So not a full blown field trip but a nice little Friday excursion for the ichinensei class nonetheless. They didn't bring back the oodles and oodles amounts that they used to bring back in yochien. Could be because this wasn't a full blown field trip either though, not sure. But either way, the kids brought back a few tasty sweet potatoes, the kids had a ball and, Branden talked nonstop about how much fun he had. So, I was happy he got to do that. And yay for whichever farmer invited the kids and the teacher down. : )

Friday, after Branden rode his bike with his friends from the neighborhood. He came and played with Noah in the backyard. Noah's too little for me to let him out of the yard. So, he gets to play in the locked and fenced in backyard, but he does have to stay in the yard. So Noah plays a lot back there. Noah was happy Branden was back there with him and the two of them swung on the swings together. Except for they swung upside down. Heads dangling down and legs up. Ha haha. Those crazy kids! Meanwhile I was in the house finishing up cooking dinner and getting ready to tell the boys to come inside and wash their hands! Ha ha ha. : )

Again, still trying to stay away from chicken or anything remotely like a roasted turkey, lol. So I made fried pork chops last Friday.

Rice a roni, the San Francisco treat!!! LOL! Chicken rice a roni!

My simple, far from fancy, basic looking Friday meal. Fried pork chops, rice a roni and peas. And an iced tea. : ) With Monday being a holiday in Japan and no elementary school for B this coming Monday, we were gearing up for a nice relaxing long weekend. yay! Plans? Nope, not a thing! Ha ha ha. : )

Friday nights popcorn and a DVD was what we did at our house! Big bowl was for us adults and the little blue bowl was for the boys to share.

Full tummy's. Not fancy, just plain looking house wear, and even Noah's was a hand me down from B, ha ha ha. Silver lining, we were warm, toasty and happy as clams, enjoying our Friday! With 3-D glasses and all, and ready to enjoy the movie!!!

Saturday afternoon, I swung through the drive through, bought 3 cheeseburgers, 2 for B and 1 for Noah. 2 of those 100 yen choco shakes, one for each of the kids. And only thing I got was this strawberry shortcake Mcflurry. Oh man, was it good. We were having lunch at home is why we didn't have lunch there. But, the cheeseburgers were good and cheap little snacks for the car ride home and they enjoyed their shakes too. Meanwhile I got to finally enjoy and try that new Mcflurry. : ) Definitely delicious! A couple spoons and drive, a red light and a few more spoonfuls. And it was all gone before we got home. : ) We enjoyed Saturday, didn't take any pics from Saturday other then this Mcflurry one.

Sunday Noboru had flown to Okayama. We had finally come to the conclusion of the car we would get. And though I will blog about that a bit later down below. Sunday at say 5am or so, Noboru was on his way to Haneda airport to fly to Okayama, he was in the air at around 8:30 am Sunday morning. He flew back to Chiba Sunday evening. Anyway, Sunday I pulled out the beef and made beef stew. Again, trying to make anything that doesn't seem like turkey or chicken. So eating a lot of beef, pork or shrimp this week until Thanksgiving. And we then get turkey-ed out, ha ha ha. : ) Just frying up the beef in a bit of oil and salt and pepper.

Beefs all done, added water and boiled for a few hours until the beef was very tender.

When the beef was finally fall apart type tender, I added the onions, the potatoes, carrots and mushrooms.

Beef stew roux (sp?)

Man, it almost looks like curry, but nope it's beef stew. Meanwhile Noboru had been calling me throughout the day, keeping me informed about the car. And then telling me what flight he was catching and what time to expect him home. : )

He was hungry, and so this would be his dinner as well.

A very basic supper for Sunday, a nice hearty beef stew, some warm dinner rolls with melted butter on top.

Monday, although B played all day in the house, it rained so he couldn't play outside. However although it was a holiday here in Japan. He still had Kumon at 3pm. Meanwhile, I wrote his Kumon teacher a little note...this note, just excusing him from class for later in the week. Just a little note explaining Thursday was indeed a holiday and he would not be there for Thursday's class. And yes, I have figured out a long time ago, write her in Japanese, she will write me back in English everytime!!! So, oh well...if she prefers get my letters in English, okie dokie. It does make my life easier too then. : ) She wrote back, that it was fine. And to enjoy our holiday! : ) Very nice Kumon teacher. : ) And yes I signed it, but after I took the pic. : )

Also on Monday, our turkey got here! He came frozen and I popped him in the fridge so he can slowly defrost. : )

Pop up timer and the whole shebang. Just a regular normal American turkey. : )

That is one heck of a huge one though! : )Good thing we got that turkey roasting pan from FBC already. 19 and a half pounds.

Aww, these are the nice American farmers who help grow these turkeys. Those boys, remind me of our neighbors in Denver. Nick and Matt, good boys! : ) I bet, little did they know this turkey would wind up all the way in Chiba Japan, huh? : D

This place sent me 2 extra free pop up timers. Hmmm. Oh well, if anyone ever asks, "does anyone have an extra pop up timer" I can safely answer, "yes, while yes I do." har har har! And salt. Nice and interesting gifts and am glad I ordered from them. : ) Very nice company.

I haven't updated you all on Branden's progress in Kumon for a while and I usually update about this every 4- 6 month's, or so, I guess I should do that now. : )Branden is doing really really well. He is right up with his peers for his Japanese, so he is not behind with regards to his Japanese at all. And we are quite happy about this. You are welcome to have a look at the types of work he is doing. This is the hiragana work he does at Kumon. It is read a paragrph or mini story and answer the questions. His writing is very good, good penmanship. As is his understanding of the material he reads. Also, I had B wait to sign his name on his paper so I could take a pic first. : )

This is the kanji that Branden is working on at Kumon as well. : ) He is working on his stroke technique right now. He already knows and, understands and can write a fair amount of kanji.

The stuff he learns at Kumon is about a month or two ahead of what they are learning at elementary, so he is getting that tiny little advantage. He has been learning kanji at Kumon since August and last week, I think is when the ichinensei sensei introduced it to the kids. Branden wasn't surprised or anything, he was granted not years ahead, I am not saying that. But he was indeed very familiar with the kanji they have been doing. Has been working on it at home with Noboru in their free time and also working on it with his Kumon teacher. So, he's doing really well with regarding his Japanese Kumon and VERY well with his Japanese at ichinensei. So he has no delay or anything. He's right up with his peers, his fellow classmates.

His English at Kumon is going amazingly well too. We are quite happy with our choice to send him to Kumon for that. Giving our son, every advantage we can, only helps him in the long run, so yeah we are really happy with our choice we made for our son. : ) His English comprehension, listening and speaking has always been at a native level. His first language being English. I don't have any worries or concerns about his listening, speaking or understanding at all. That's a non issue for our household completely since I am a native English speaker and we use English in our home. However the writing and reading is what I wanted to make sure he got. Sure I do that stuff at home when I have the time. But again life gets hectic, things come up and we do have a younger child at our home that sometimes makes studying dificult, if you got more then one kid, I am sure you know what I mean. And although I have every good intention to study reading and writing with him myself. Once a week wasn't really enough. So, by him doing that twice a week reading and writing at Kumon with the Kumon teacher, and then I still study with him at home,on that, once a week myself no matter what...so yeah, for us, it has been great. Again may not be for everyone, but no worries. : )

Branden was tested in July, we got this in July, I just didn't find the need to blog about it. But yeah we were very proud. He took the English test, for reading and writing and he tested at second grade level. And that's for 2nd grade Kumon level. Branden actually enjoys reading a Spongebob book from beginning to end. Reading it out loud to me. He writes grandpa real letters and I help him mail them. He writes me little notes about 2-3 every week, just simple basic first grader stuff, "what's for dinner mommy?", but things have to start somewhere right? : ). His writing and reading has really taken off and we are so thrilled. Again though, what is good for one family, might not be for another though like I always say. Anyway this is your update on Branden's Kumon stuff. It's going very well. : )

This is a picture of my "new to me" new car. It is a Subaru R2. It's an R type, with the DOHC engine, CVT transmission like all the Subaru's have. : ) Hubby loves that part, I really don't mind either way. : ) It's a 2005, this is the newest year they had the eagle or bird shaped type grill. Umm, I think last time I spoke about the car, we were deciding between either the Stella or the Daihatsu Mira. We decided against the Mira, no major reason. Zero'ed in on the Stella. Noboru was very keen on getting a Subaru. Next thing you know though, his cowokrer, mentioned, "if you are getting it for your wife, maybe you should get the R2. Saying his wife drives one. How cute they are blah blah blah. At this point, I think we were 3 weeks into the car search, getting a bit tired of the car talk by now, I was. : ) At this point hoping Noboru would decide already. LOL. Now he had to talk me out of the stella and into the R2, wasn't that hard though. Noboru was really impressed with the R2 from what he read. The R2, is just as safe as the Stella apparantly but smaller. I was still undecided. Saw an actual R2 on the road, man it was a cute car, I thought. Then I googled in English the Subaru R-2. And found this website. The Subaru R-2 page, this page was so well written it really indeed made me change my mind from the Stella to the R2 (although both fine cars). The designer for the R-2, was actually one of the designers for the Alpha Romeo, Andreas Zapatinas, he is the one who designed the R-2. This page which I linked, said it was the most stylish Kei car around (again though, that link said it, I didn't). And blah blah blah. I had to agree, and economical too, good on gas. I wanted the one with the bird type grill like on the link. Anyway so we looked for the newest model that had that grill, which was the 2005. Found one that was fully loaded, ABS brakes, some super bright HID (high intensity discharge headlights) headlights or whatever. Again Noboru researched it. And he found me a nice wine red colored one (which was the color I wanted)..blue and white and silver were in Chiba. He flew all the way to Okayama, had been talking with the seller/dealer on this for days, getting about 20 pics before deciding to go and see it himself. In short the lady who owned this, her husband flew overseas a lot, this car was only owned by 1 owner, that lady, and the person we bought it from was the dealer who sold it to the lady brand new back when it was new. And they finally moved to NY. This car was driven not so much by the lady, it has 4,800 KM but closer to 4,900 KM on it, which is really low mileage considering, according to Noboru it is practically brand new. More then likely she probably rode her bike, more then driving her car. And then they moved. So, while she's off happily living in NY someplace, I am going to be happily driving her car! Umm, correction now my car, ha ha ha! : ) Anyway, Noboru got a fantastic deal, so he paid cash. And in a week or two when they get the license plates on and get that paperwork done, then Noboru will fly back to Okayama and drive my car back to Chiba for me. And 1 step closer I will become, to shuttling both kids from school to school come this Janauary, so, I'm really happy, you know we've been really needing a smaller car. Didn't want to spend an arm and a leg either. And hubby came through. He found me a very nice car. So, I'm happy. : ) Will probably keep this car for the next 5 years or so. So, I'm thrilled. : )

Guam trip: Looks like we won't be heading to Guam for Christmas. We are 90 % sure right now, we will indeed stay home for Christmas in Japan. Because with just buying the car and stuff, it seems best to just stay home for the holidays. So, looks like B will be doing that compressed swimming class afterall, ha ha ha. Oh well, I really don't mind either way at all. As long as I have my family. : )And the car was really a necessity with yochien about to start soon.

TV talk: I saw a really good movie on satellite the other day, it was called. "Must Love Dog's" Thing is, I caught only 2/3's of it. It was so fantastic, but now I will try my best, to catch the whole thing. What else, have seen that Ghost Whisperer episode of Melinda at the circus or whatever, and the guy who drowned, about 3 times since last week. ha ha ha. And caught the new Ghost Whisperer episode about the African American guy ghost last night, that was a great episode. That Cold Case with the alcoholic lady who was found dead on the snow, where they tried to find her killer was also very sad : (. Saw that a few times since last week too. : ) Have also been watching lots of Hannah Montana and The Perfect Housewive with Anthea Turner.

Eye exam: Branden indeed went and got his eye exam last Tuesday. An hour and a half we spent at the eye doctors getting him tested. They tested everything for an eyeball they could possibly test for, eye exam, eye vision test, looked into his eyeball with a special light, puffs of stuff into his eye, squirts of stuff into his eye, geeze he was tested for everything and anything. Ha ha ha. And he does not need glasses. However, the doctor wants us to come back in the Spring just to make sure nothing has changed. I was ready for the glasses but the doctor said, not right now. Because as for now, his vision is simply not bad enough for glasses. Of course in a few years that could change, but for now, no he does not need glasses. I did have the doctor sign the form the school wanted signed. And Branden did give it to his teacher the following day.

Noboru is going to be off work starting Wednesday, for the next 4 days. So he will be able to help with some of the cooking for Thanksgiving and also enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with us as well. So that is nice.

Surfer Boy

My Prepster

Studious and Smart

An Excellent Swimmer

About the Blog

This blog was started for everybody I care about and love back home, it sorta helps my family and friends feel more connected to me and my life. It's also a place to make new friendships, support one another, laugh our butts off at times, and just be kind to one another and hang out! So please join me, while I try living my life in Japan, all the good, the bad and yes even the embarrassing blunders that I will probably be making along the way! : )